Prof. Christoph Gräni was awarded the Cardiology Research Prize 2026 by the Swiss Heart Foundation (Schweizerische Herzstiftung), which was presented on 2 April 2026, in recognition of outstanding contributions to cardiac imaging and prognosis through the integration of artificial intelligence. The prize is endowed with CHF 20,000 and has been awarded annually since 1981 in recognition of outstanding scientific contributions to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. The recognized work addresses two clinically important challenges. First, using AI, an automated method was developed to detect and classify rare congenital anomalies of the coronary arteries in CT angiography images, abnormalities that are often missed in routine practice yet can be life-threatening, particularly in young athletes, published in Nature Communications (1). Second, in a large systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA (2), cardiac MRI-based quantification of myocardial scarring was shown to provide substantially more accurate risk stratification in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy than conventional left ventricular ejection fraction assessment, with direct implications for optimizing implantable defibrillator therapy and protecting high-risk patients who might otherwise be overlooked. Prof. Christoph Gräni is an Extraordinarius Professor at the University of Bern and serves as Director of Cardiac Imaging and Director of Digital Cardiology at the University Hospital Bern, and Co-leads the AI-CVM.